As satisfying as it can be to view one whole story when you sit down to enjoy a film, there are exceptions where a second (or more) is needed to really make it satiating. Especially when it comes to adaptations, there’s a big difference between milking a story from one film into two or three and creating the “just right” mixture to make each film as enjoyable as the last. Having been adapted time and again as one film, director Martin Bourboulon (Eiffel) opted to split author Alexandre Dumas’s The Three Musketeers into two portions, thereby enabling audiences to not only get the swashbuckling action depicted in the tale, but also a proper sense of the characters and the intrigue within the narrative. After making a splash in the U.S. back in December 2023 with Part I: D’Artagnan, Bourboulon’s second half, Milady, is set to arrive to close the story on Dumas’s heroic Musketeers. Without missing a beat, Bourboulon throws audiences back into the action, daring us to catch our breath from beginning to end.
For a refresher on Part I: D’Artagnan, head to the initial spoiler-free theatrical review.
François Civil as D’Artagnan in THE THREE MUSKETEERS – PART I: D’ARTAGNAN. Photo courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films.
France 1627: Having protected the honor of Queen Anne (Vicky Krieps) and the life of King Louis XIII (Louis Garrel), not to mention repairing the status of Athos (Vincent Cassel), all appeared to be well for D’Artagnan (François Civil) and his new friends. But celebration is cut short as both the King officially calls for war and D’Artagnan witnesses his love and handmaiden to the Queen, Constance (Lyna Khoudri), kidnapped. As soldiers are called the frontlines and the forces behind the scenes grow more brazen, can the distracted D’Artagnan find Constance before all hope is lost? The answer lies within the strangest of places: the mysterious spy known as Milady de Winter (Eva Green).
Eva Green as Milady in THE THREE MUSKETEERS – PART I: D’ARTAGNAN. Photo courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films.
After a brief reminder of the events of Part I, Milady jumps right back into the fray, picking up with D’Artagnan once more, this time in a different kerfuffle than he found himself in at the start of the total story. It’s a smart piece of mirroring from not-exactly-returning screenwriters Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte, though it may be more apt to refer to Bourboulon instead, as both films, D’Artagnan and Milady, were shot at one time and then split in twain. What this sequence does is reestablish the current, immediate personal stakes — D’Artagnan witnessed the kidnapping of his beloved and wants to rescue her, but first must save himself — while also reminding of the bigger picture/political intrigue by once more putting D’Artagnan at a significant intersection with Milady. It’s because of his coincidental arrival that her portion of the plot to frame the Queen and Athos is resolved and, now, the two meet again, their paths converging and diverging violently, unsure of whom to trust at any given moment. This conveys just how intrinsically linked the pair are narratively while also providing a smooth handoff from one central character to another — this film is titled Milady, after all. This doesn’t mean that we leave D’Artagnan completely or the other Musketeers behind, it just means that this second film is going to focus a bit more on Milady as an individual, not just a spy, confirming her significance to the overall machinations which seek to protect/overthrow the throne of France. If Part I utilizes D’Artagnan as the way into this adventure, Part II uses Milady as the means to bring all secrets into the light and damn the consequences.
L-R: Vicky Krieps as Queen Anne d’Autriche and François Civil as D’Artagnan in THE THREE MUSKETEERS – PART II: MILADY. Photo courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films.
Though Milady is a second half whose payoffs require understanding the first, the reminder at the start really is enough for audiences to jump in on this story. As such, in their own way, though they make up a whole tale, each individual film functions as their own story. This translates to surprises and revelations that, yes, do build on the previous half, but also feel unique in the execution. Theories from the first half are either confirmed or dismantled, while new ones pop up to take their place. Narrative threads are introduced, offering moments of great interpersonal development and audience delight, yet are not so disconnected from the overall story to seem superfluous. One of the new characters, Mathilde played by Anatomy of a Fall’s Camille Rutherford, seems only introduced to give Romain Duris’s Aramis and Pio Marmaï’s Porthos a B plot purpose to explore, but Mathilde intersects with D’Artagnan in such a way that, though neither necessarily knows who the other is, the audience does, making her presence something *we* can trust amid a great deal of uncertainty. This creates an emotional shorthand that allows the audience to buy-in to what’s going on much faster, removing distractions when the details of the mystery are slowly coming into focus.
Eva Green as Milady in THE THREE MUSKETEERS – PART II: MILADY. Photo courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films.
Because these films were shot at one time, it should come as little surprise that Nicolas Bolduc’s cinematography remains as consistent as ever. Milady, like D’Artagnan, lacks a sense of hyperreality, that what we’re seeing is not from the imagination of an author, but as if we’re observing history play out before us. Characters are not in costume, but in clothes; they do not occupy space, they exist within it, thereby granting a sense of weight aided by compelling performances and a twisty plot. Sometimes Bolduc narrows audience focus by edging the frame, placing a darkness in the corners or all across the outside, creating a sensation of intensity by altering the audience’s available visual real estate. It’s used often enough to be noticeable, but not so much as to distract or detract from the momentum of the tale. However, like before, the cinematography here possesses an intimacy that doesn’t always work during the action sequences. The camera is tight and uses long takes to keep as much of the actor in frame as possible, not quite matching the extended one take from D’Artagnan when the four fighters band together against Le Cardinal de Richelieu’s (Eric Ruf) men, but still invigorating when done well. In one sequence, the camera moves just a beat ahead of where Civil does, subconsciously leading the audience to where the action is before it happens, enabling us to follow what’s taking place. Other times, the intimacy only enhances the chaos of combat, thereby making what occurs on screen harder to track beyond the fight for their lives that they are so clearly engaged in.
L-R: Vicky Krieps as Anne d’Autriche and Lyna Khoudri as Constance Bonacieux in THE THREE MUSKETEERS – PART I: D’ARTAGNAN. Photo courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films.
One would be remiss to not mention how Green positively carries this film, her Milady being one that could easily be reduced to simple femme fatale. Green always delivers a performance that elevates the project, whether it’s playing a penny-counter (Casino Royale), protector of the irregular (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children), or a complete narcissist (Nocebo). Here it’s no different as the lethal blade of Richelieu is revealed to be something far more complex beyond what other adaptations have made her: existing as part of a man’s story absent her own. The script lays out Milady’s agency, but it’s Green who gives it the breath of life, making it painfully believable, and reminding us that in a tale of heroes, virtue does not prevent someone from being a villain themselves.
L-R: Ralph Amoussou as Hannibal, Romain Duris as Aramis, Vincent Cassel as Athos, and Pio Marmaï as Porthos in THE THREE MUSKETEERS – PART II: MILADY. Photo courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films.
Bourboulon’s Milady is as equally entertaining as D’Artagnan, bearing the same strengths and weaknesses, which will hopefully give way to the same outcome: audience delight and box office success. Prognostication is not something this reviewer gets into typically, but between the way the film ends and the talk Bourboulon has made over extending his time in the world of Dumas, only a repeat success may find audiences getting their questions answered. If past is prologue, then audiences are going to show up for Part II and come away as gratified as before. This isn’t to say that Milady doesn’t offer a satisfying conclusion to what began in Part I, it’s that the way it ends begs for us to come back. Bourboulon has given audiences a gift of an exciting, dare say thrilling, adventure that adapts the familiar fiction in such a way that it could be mistaken for historical fact. While there will come a point where the mission is complete and a Musketeer will lay down their weapons, one hopes that this day is not yet here.
Relish in the conclusion of The Three Musketeers and keep your fingers-crossed for success.
In theaters and on digital April 19th, 2024.
For more information, head to the official Samuel Goldwyn Films The Three Musketeers – Part II: Milady webpage.
Final Score: 4 out of 5.
Share this:
Categories: In Theaters, Reviews, streaming
I Loved both Part 1 and Part 2. I was really hoping to see a Part 3 to see where Athos’ son, Joseph is. If his mother took him, did she die in the fire or did she survive and then kidnapped her son? I’d love to know. ❤️